NHIA indefinitely suspends Tema-based Clinic

For the fifth time this year, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) suspended yet another health facility from providing service to NHIS clients.

The facility, Bernice Clinic, is located in Tema. The suspension is indefinite.

The NHIA tweeted via its twitter handle @NHIS_Ghana that “NHIA indefinitely suspends Bernice Clinic in Tema from providing service to NHIS subscribers.”

Though the tweet posted on Thursday was brief, previous messages on the same social media platform suggested the NHIA was taking its “job” to “ensure that its service providers adhere to standards” to a more serious level.

An earlier tweet sought to reveal the intention of the NHIA: “The overall goal of NHIS’ accreditation is to ascertain that healthcare facilities are able to provide quality & safe healthcare services.”

This is the fifth facility the NHIA has sanctioned in the last month citing various breach of standards.

Communications Manager of the NHIA, Selorm Adonoo, has in previous engagements stated that “service providers depend heavily on the NHIS for their internally-generated funds as NHIA figures show that about 85% of revenue generated by all its accredited facilities come from the NHIS and therefore it is only right that basic standards are upheld.”

The NHIA has asserted that the unavailability of professional and requisite staff at various accredited facilities and the absence of other basic requirements necessary to the running of a health facility, will not be tolerated.

The NHIA says it has instituted quality assurance and clinical audit systems, and what the Authority calls ‘post-accreditation monitoring’ to ensure that facilities operating under the scheme maintain a certain level of quality standards. Subscribers have also complained that some clinics and facilities still demand money from them even though they (subscribers) present their cards at point of service delivery. The NHIA has maintained that it is illegal to exact co-payments from subscribers.

Last month, the NGO, Universal Access to Healthcare Campaign (UAHC) commended the regulator for standing up against poor standards and ensuring the interest of the subscriber is protected, when three facilities were suspended for various offences.